A 14-year-old boy testified Monday that he was "freaked out" when a Saudi Arabian air force sergeant made sexual advances toward him in a Las Vegas hotel room on New Year’s Eve but didn’t know how to get away before he was raped.

The teen acknowledged that he willingly followed defendant Mazen Alotaibi (MAH’-zen ah-loh-TAH’-bee) to the room at Circus Circus in hopes of getting marijuana from him.

He said Alotaibi offered to pay him money for sex, and he only agreed to the offer in hopes of tricking the man and running away before anything happened.

Alotaibi, 24, has pleaded not guilty to nine felonies, including kidnapping, sexual assault and lewdness with a child. If convicted, he could be given life in prison. He is being held at the Clark County jail.

Alotaibi’s lawyer, Don Chairez, has argued that if any sex happened, it was consensual. He does not believe any force was used.

The sergeant, who was in the U.S. for military training, told police that he met the boy in a hallway at the hotel on Dec. 31. He said the boy wanted marijuana and offered to exchange sex for money.

Nevada state law says children under 16 cannot consent to sex.

The boy accompanied Alotaibi to the hotel room where five other men were lounging on the morning before a New Year’s Eve fireworks show on the Strip.

Prosecutor Jacqueline Bluth has said Alotaibi steered the boy into the bathroom and locked the door before groping him and forcing him into oral and anal sex. Bluth said a nurse at a hospital detailed injuries consistent with such an attack.

Police reported collecting DNA evidence from a used condom and a soiled towel found in the bathroom. The prosecutor said DNA swabbed from the boy’s neck, ear, chest and other body parts was consistent with two people, including Alotaibi.

Chairez has said the DNA evidence was inconclusive and showed no link to Mazen.

Chairez also argued that Alotaibi was tired and intoxicated after traveling to Las Vegas from Los Angeles and staying up all night drinking cognac at a strip club. He also was too limited in English and too unfamiliar with U.S. law to waive his right to have a lawyer with him while he answered police questions, the lawyer said.

Alotaibi, sitting handcuffed in a police interview room, never asked for a translator and appeared at the beginning of the 70-minute videotaped interview to waive his right to have a lawyer present. He also said he didn’t understand why he was there.

The boy had been visiting Las Vegas with his divorced father and initially told police he was on the way to meet a friend at a doughnut shop when he was abducted.

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Comments

BOB KELLERMAN, 2013-10-15 19:55:28

@DerekJA -- of course, the boy may have had bad or conflicting intentions, but he has a 14 year old brain, and CANNOT consent to sex.

Blondie , 2013-10-15 19:59:32

I never said he consented to sex. I said, no way that he didn’t know that the guy wanted sex. It’s clear he wasn’t planning on having sex, just robbing the guy or getting pot. Please don’t read into what I write and please, don’t start name calling. It’s unnecassary. Thanks

Jon Will, 2013-10-17 14:28:59

DerekJA, you’re telling an old story: "Blame the victim". Women have been subjected to this for millennia and in some parts of the world a woman can be punished or even executed for being raped. In the 21st Century a lot has changed. It’s time to wake up to the realities of the world and the immense power that many men still have over the powerless--women, children, the poor and, yes, teenage boys, gay or straight. Although none of us knows the truth of the details of this case, it is clear that Alotaibi committed a crime.

BOB KELLERMAN, 2013-10-18 03:14:17

@DerekJA -- YOU called the boy a name. I called you NO names, and I did not read anything into what you wrote -- but you seem to call yourself "mind reader", since you know what he was thinking. Read what I wrote again. I only pointed out that no matter who the boy was or what he was thinking, he was 14, and you judged him by older standards.

Blondie , 2013-10-18 04:56:34

Bob,why don’t you re-read the article again and maybe you’ll see that I pulled the info from the article. You are the name caller. I never called anyone any name. You clearly just want to attack me because YOU were the one calling me names, WHICH YOU’LL SEE WAS REMOVED BY EDGE MANAGEMENT!!! So please post what you want about articles but stop your misreading of mine and others and stop attacking me. You CLEARLY don’t have the ability to see what I was meaning. WOW! And I thought from prev. posts of yours that you were cool. I was clearly wrong. Again, just so you know, I never insinuated that rape was ok under ANY circumstances. Now please leave me alone. Thanks.

Jon Will, 2013-10-18 12:07:14

Let’s step away from the personal attacks and look at the legal and ethical issues involved. Simply put, if a 14-year-old approaches you and offers to have sex with you for money or marijuana, the ONLY appropriate response is "NO!" Any other response is a violation of law and ethics.